Toronto Urges Citizens to Refrain from Dumping Waste into Recycling Bins

It’s not always clear which discarded materials should go into garbage bins and which should go into recycling bins, and many Toronto citizens have begun to guess without doing any research. Unfortunately, this guessing saps the city of millions of dollars annually - a cost too great to ignore the problem any longer.

Toronto is now trying to remedy the situation by having employees sort through the recycling bins of suburban homes for the next six months in search of waste unsuitable for recycling. Surprisingly, more than 25% of the materials that homeowners put into their recycling bins should be discarded elsewhere, which is exactly why the recycling sorting team is necessary.

During inspection, employees lift up the lids of large recycling or mini bins and peer inside in search of waste. If they find any waste, the bin is left with a sticker on it to notify the homeowners of their error. It is then their responsibility to take the waste out of their recycling bin and dispose of it properly.

 With the city suffering 50,000 tons of garbage mixed in with every 200,000 tons of recycling, sorting and waste removal costs have soared to nearly $6 million every year, whether the discarded materials are sorted manually or automatically. Less mixing means less money wasted, and the city looks to reduce the mixing rate by at least 10%.

Reportedly, the main type of waste found in recycling bins is coffee cups, and many residents still don’t understand that coffee cups must be deposited into garbage bins. This is closely followed by things like old car parts, kitchenware, and black garbage bags with unknown contents.

Of course, there are some citizens who have made few to no errors in their recycling efforts, and many of them are encouraging others to read up on the rules to refresh their memories. The majority of elementary schools, high schools, and universities have begun to implement recycling lessons into their curriculums in an attempt to save a significant amount of money and be kinder to the planet.

Although there are currently no fines for improper discarding of materials or waste, the city has considered putting stricter rules into place and distributing tickets to those who fail to recognize them. This could act as an incentive for homeowners to pay more attention to how they sort their trash, what they put in their bins, as well as cover some of the costs associated with sorting the mixed waste.

As the city works towards a cost-efficient, cleaner environment, residents are urged to double check their waste bins before they put them out on the curb.